1 Thessalonians 5:4 But you, brethren, are not in darkness, that the day would overtake you like a thief; How serious will it be for a person to be overtaken in "that day" like a thief overtakes a household when he slips in and steals? Will it just be a surprise for those who claim to be Christians who will get a slap on the wrist by the Lord but still proceed to heaven? Will they simply lose rewards but still gain the ultimate reward? What is this darkness that the brethren are not in? 1 Thessalonians 5:3-5 While they are saying, "Peace and safety!" then destruction will come upon them suddenly like labor pains upon a woman with child, and they will not escape. But you, brethren, are not in darkness, that the day would overtake you like a thief; for you are all sons of light and sons of day. We are not of night or of darkness;

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by Sandy Simpson, 3/3/16 2 Corinthians 4:17 For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory; (KJV) This is both an incredible source of hope for Christians who are downtrodden, and a source of escalating heresy in many churches. It is critical that we understand what Paul was talking about when he wrote the phrase "weight of glory". Jacob Prasch has repeated this phrase in his teachings over the years ... "A text, out of context, in isolation from co-text is always a pre-text." A huge problem today is that individuals and movements tend to yank verses out of their context and build a cult of heresy around them. This is called eisegesis or plugging your own ideas into the Scriptures instead of exegesis, gaining understanding and interpretation of the Bible by studying it in context and in the scope of the whole written Word.

A number of years ago, a book written by emerging-church leaders Brian McLaren and Leonard Sweet was released. The book was called A is for Abductive: the language of the emerging church. Going through the alphabet, the authors identified many terms they hoped would be picked up by the younger generation, thus creating a unique emerging spiritual atmosphere. They called it a "primer with a mission." That mission that McLaren, Sweet, and other like-minded change agents embrace has been successful in bringing in a new kind of "Christianity," which is not biblical Christianity but rather a "New" Christianity now permeating the halls of Christian colleges, seminaries, evangelical churches, small groups, ministries, and organizations. We have compiled in this booklet common terms and their basic meanings to help uncover the true meaning behind some of the deceptive language of the "New" Christianity (i.e., the New Spirituality).Click here to read this book review!

Spring 2016 is almost here, which means parents will be diligently helping their college-age children search for Christian colleges, seminaries, and universities for enrollment for this coming fall. As many of you know, Lighthouse Trails has been researching Christian colleges for 14 years. Three years ago, we published a report called An Epidemic of Apostasy, which revealed that the majority of Christian colleges, seminaries, and universities had begun to incorporate contemplative spirituality (through Spiritual Formation programs) into their schools. The report showed how much of this was happening because accreditation associations were requiring schools to include Spiritual Formation in the lives of their students if they wanted to be accredited.

August 2014 - Volume 20, Issue 4 During the past two years most of the articles sent out by Think on These Things have dealt with the issue of the Spiritual Formation Movement. And while we have examined the birth of the modern movement as well as its key beliefs, leaders and teachers, both past and present, we now want to turn our attention in this final article to their ancient roots. Coupled with this it would be of value to discuss the attraction of the movement, especially for evangelicals. Having already documented in previous articles serious errors in doctrine and practice, why do so many evangelicals embrace the disciplines and look to the so-called "spiritual masters" for guidance? These issues of origin and attraction overlap but we will look at them separately for clarity's sake.

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As you know, if you are a frequent user of the DITC website, we offer thousands of FREE articles archived or linked from our site. You can also search for articles on our site and other excellent discernment sites, browse by topic and find the latest articles for the past two months. We also offer many apologetics DVDs, CDs, books and other materials for purchase using PayPal or by check/money order by mail.

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We now have a number of our DVD videos available for instant download via PayLoadz. To see which ones we have available you will find the following symbol next that item on the main pages of the ACT site as well as on the item order page. The DVD videos available with this feature are in MP4 format, playable on your computer or personal device as long as you have a program on it that can play back MP4s. Due to storage restrictions the instant download version of the DVD videos we have available in MP4 format are of slightly less resolution as the DVD version. However with this option you save shipping and handling and delivery time. The videos are $10. each and PayLoadz will send you to PayPal for payment. Just go to the page of the item you wish to download and if you see the logo above it will have a "Add To Cart" button where you can download the video immediately. So now you have a choice. I also now have downloadable MP3s available for the same MP4 videos at $3. each.

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